Lena’s Cafe

My review is not so much about the food as it is the service and knowledge of the wait staff.
I ordered the Rigatoni and meatball and was obviously served Penne Pasta and a meatball.
I told my waitress I ordered the Rigatoni and she said yes this is it… Apparently she believes all tubed pasta is Rigatoni? …or she thought I was 6 years old and wouldn’t know the difference!

My favorite restaurant in Altoona. Come here to see the in-​laws, and try to never miss a visit. Great red sauce and house salad dressing, with friendly informal atmosphere! Excellent home style Italian eatery!

The homemade spaghetti is AMAZING! The best in town. The house dressing on the salad is awesome also. This is one of the best places to eat in town.

We walked in and a lady yell just pick a seat anywhere! So we went to a table off to the side and sat. Got our drinks and ordered our food. It wasn’t very busy, but it seemed to take awhile to get our food.
When our food came out, our server dropped it off and then she never came back to ask how everything was. I thought the spaghetti was way over cooked! The bread was very fresh, our salad was ok, and then sauce seemed watered down.
We finished up and sat for awhile before our server came over and asked if we’d like anything else, then she went and got our check. We continued to sit, after she said she’d be back to pick it up, so finally my husband got up and headed to the bar. She then came running over and we said you can keep the change and she was all, thank you, have a great night!
Overall, I’m not sure if I’d go back or not. I guess if a large group of friends wanted to and I was outvoted then yes, I’d go back.

Great food. Homemade pastas the boom! Very pleasant wait staff. Not only that the portion size is giant. I had the Braciole it was great couldn’t finish it tho

Lena’s is my birthday treat every year! Even the year I went into labor with my youngest child! I wouldn’t go to the hospital until I had my Lenas spaghetti and meatballs dinner! Wonderful!

I have been coming to Lena’s since I was a little boy. My family and I love this place we always have. The food is very good I must admit. On a recent trip there I ordered three meatballs, bread, and extra butter. What came out was one piece of bread and one packet of butter. I very kindly asked her for more bread and extra butter. She threw my bread on the counter and mumbled under her breath «fucking unbelievable» and stormed back to the kitchen. At which point I could here her making rude comments about me and the fact I had complained about not getting what I ordered. I told the lady behind the bar that I was extremely unhappy about how I was just treated and that there was no reason for it. The so called manager began to tell me that I needed to calm down and relax. At this point I was extremely upset. She said and I quote «if you don’t like how things are done here you shouldn’t come back»??? What did I do? Bottom line this place has really gone down hill. The service is lousy and the wait staff are rude and very unpleasant.

The food is always good here. The sauce is homemade as well as the noodles, except the homemade noodles cost extra. Come early though since the seating area is not very big so you might have to wait for a table.

Dingy little place in a questionable neighborhood. Went here in a tip from a local. Good basic Italian food. Everyone raves about the bread, It’s okay, but store bought — not baked on site. Loved the gnocci & meatballs.

Giving three stars because the place needs to be updated and the service is not up to par. The food is delish, the homemade noodles are a must!

My husband and I went to Lena’s about a month ago on a Friday night. Let me start by saying that we are both from Italian families and know what true Italian cooking should taste like. If you are searching for authentic Italian and can’t go to your grandma’s house every weekend, this is the place! The bread was awesome, the sauce was flavorful and thick and the portions were huge. I got the sampler platter that had stuffed shells, spaghetti, gnoccis, and penne pasta. My husband got the linguine with clam sauce. Both were excellent.
My only complaint would be that the service was sub par. We were seating fairly quickly, but then waiting a good 10 minutes before any came over and gave us menus, greeted us and got our drinks. During the meal, our drinks were never refilled and it took forever to get her attention to bring us boxes and the check. Other than that, it was a great experience. Maybe next time we will get the food to go and will avoid having to be waited on.

I was pretty excited to visit a non-​chain restaurant on my first visit to Altoona. My new coworkers LOVE this place and hyped it up. Maybe I’m still adjusting to small town living, but I haven’t felt the love yet.
Our server was a lovely woman who kindly warned me that the mushroom sauce was not vegetarian (bummer.) I ordered whole wheat pasta with the vegetarian sauce. It was pretty bland. I would have liked some veggies and/​or cheese in the sauce or some grated parm on top. It does come with a really sad salad, which is made up of some very pale lettuce, a slice of onion and a few slices of cucumber. We ordered garlic bread as an appetizer, which was melt-​in-​your-​mouth delicious.
The total came out to $ 10.40 with tax, before tip. I think I’d return if they offered cheese ravioli or some sort of pasta dish with veggies, but it is overall just not a vegetarian-​friendly place to eat. Great service, though!

I heard a lot about Lena’s before going, according to my girlfriend’s family: iit’s the best Italian restaurant in Altoona – I was not disappointed. We showed up a Monday evening around 6:30 and the parking lot out back was already packed. There was a steady flow customers coming in – so that was a great sign. It scares me more to show up to a restaurant and you’re the only guest or very few at the height of the dinner rush.
I didn’t even bother looking at the menu and ordered what everyone else was ordering – spaghetti and meatballs. The spaghetti is delicious – home made and the helping size is very generous. The interior and tables are something to be desired but the food makes up for that.
Needless to say, if you’re down for Italian food and in/​around the Altoona area – stop by Lena’s.

Friendly staff and great food!

If you’ve got a craving for red sauce, you’ve come to the place at Lena’s! The food is good, consistent and even much of the pasta is homemade (try the whole wheat pasta on Thursdays).The cost may be a bit more than I think it’s possibly worth, but I still go in a couple times a month.
The home-​made noodles are worth the inquiry.

If you are looking for a respite from chain restaurant hell in Altoona, may I humbly suggest a stop at Lena’s.
It has a couple of things going against it right off the bat.
First, it’s oddly removed from any type of commerce, instead seemingly located on a residential street. Second, from the outside, it looks like a bank, or insurance office, but certainly not a restaurant.
But when we got there around 6 on a Saturday night, there was a line out the door, but it moved pretty fast. Waitresses were running around the brown wood-​paneled interior with large trays of pasta with red-​sauce.
Lena’s is the embodiment of a neighborhood, family-​style, Italian-​American eatery. The servers seemed to know most of the customers. The customers seemed to know the menu inside and out. Many patrons didn’t even need to see the menu.
Apparently, every morning, they make handmade noodles. Not all of their noodles are handmade, mind you. But you can order the handmade ones, if you wish. How could I possibly say no to handmade noodles?
They were excellent. The red sauce was simple, a little sweet, but delicious. The meatball was nothing to write home about. Pasta comes with bread and salad. The salad came with one slice of an absolutely *incredible* tomato. Granted, we were there at the end of Summer. I imagine the tomatoes in Fall and Winter could not possibly be as flavorful.
Overall, I was thrilled to find this wonderful local place in a town where it is getting increasingly difficult to do so.